Erik ten Hag has broken his silence four months after leaving Manchester United earlier this season.
After a promising first season in charge that yielded a Carabao Cup triumph and qualification for the Champions League, Ten Hag’s second campaign threw up plenty of hurdles.
The 2023-24 season was one of uncertainty at the club with Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos completing their 25 per cent takeover of the club and looking to revolutionise the club’s sporting departments, but on the pitch it was one of stagnant displays.
Though Ten Hag did manage to mastermind an FA Cup win last summer against bitter rivals Manchester City, it was ultimately not enough credit in the bank to see him survive a record poor start to 2024-25.
After less than three months of the campaign, Ten Hag’s position became untenable and he was duly sacked after a poor performance in losing 2-1 to West Ham, to be replaced by Ruben Amorim.
But now, he has given his first sit-down interview discussing his time at Old Trafford since then, with the full talk set to air on Tuesday.
Erik ten Hag has broken his four-month silence since being sacked by Manchester United
Despite winning the FA Cup Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos decided to part ways with Ten Hag
He was replaced by Ruben Amorim last year, who has also found the going tough at United
The interview, trailers for which dropped on Monday, sees Ten Hag talk about what he misses most about Manchester United, and when he will next be looking to take charge of a new team.
‘I had already decided for myself, “Okay, I’m not doing anything until July 1”,’ the former Red Devils boss tells the SEG Stories podcast.
‘If there’s one thing I miss it’s Old Trafford. You’re always working towards a dot on the horizon, but you never get to the horizon.
‘We’ve had many highs, there is always room for improvement and good is not enough. You can do better.’
United fans around the world will doubtless be keen to hear their former manager’s thoughts on his departure, as well as the current state of the team.
Since Amorim’s arrival, things have hardly improved for the Red Devils, who now find themselves down in 15th place, curiously only above West Ham – who beat United to cost Ten Hag his job – on goal difference.
It remains to be seen what Ten Hag’s next step will be after his acrimonious departure from Old Trafford.
He has proven himself capable at the top level, winning two trophies with a Man United side that are certainly not up to the standard they have historically shown, and has plenty of Champions League experience.
Ten Hag revealed that the thing he misses most from Man United is iconic ground Old Trafford
It remains to be seen where Ten Hag’s next step in management will take him next season
Raphael Varane lifted the lid on his tense relationship with the Dutch manager in an interview
Much of the criticism levelled at Ten Hag involved his recruitment, having brought in the likes of Antony, Lisandro Martinez, Andre Onana and Matthijs de Ligt who he worked with at Ajax for hefty fees with inconsistent returns.
Antony has proven a poor transfer, while Onana has made a number of high-profile errors, De Ligt is still bedding in, and Martinez has missed huge swathes of the season with injury, though is at least consistent on the field.
Another point of concern was believed to be his connection with some member of his squad, with former defender Raphael Varane revealing the tense nature of his relationship with Ten Hag.
‘It’s hard to find the right words. It was very tense at times,’ the French former centre back told The Athletic.
‘Sometimes he made an effort to listen to the players’ feedback. Sometimes he made decisions without listening to the players’ feelings. So there were ups and downs. It was complicated at times.
‘We had a robust discussion. We told each other some truths, but then I didn’t play for almost two months. I said I didn’t agree with certain ways of doing things regarding the relationship between him and the team.
‘It wasn’t something that I thought was good for the team because some of the players weren’t at all satisfied. It was not good in terms of the relationship with the coach.
‘He said “Okay, I hear what you said” and after that I didn’t play.’
